Car-haulage plant.



P. J. PIGKINGBR.

CAR HAULAGE PLANT. APPLICATION IILEUSBPT. 29, 1913.

Patented Jan. 19, 1915.

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" the approach to the car UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

PRESLY J. FICKINGER, OF CONNEAUT, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE MCMYLER, INTER-STATE COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

CAR-HAULAGE PLANT.

To all 107mm it may concern Be it known that I, PRESLY J. FICK- INGER, acitizen of the United States, residing at Conneaut, in the county ofAshtabula and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Car- Haulage Plants, of'which the following is a. full,clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to car haulage plants of the general type used inconnection with the various kinds of car handling apparatus, such as cardumpers.

At the present time, loaded cars are brought up onto the cradle of a cardumper, dumper being usually upwardly inclined, by a haulage car adaptedto be moved by a suitable haulage cable along a narrow gage haulagetrack arranged between the rails of the main track and terminating in apit arranged a suitable distance in advance of the car dumper approach.The haulage car is run into the pit when it is desired that a loaded carbe moved forward to a point in advance thereof, so that when the haulagecar is removed from the pit, it will be at the rear of and can thencepush the car up onto the cradle of the car dumper. This system whilesatisfactory in some respects, does not admit of the most advantageoushandling of the cars, for it is obvious that a loaded car can not bespotted, that is, brought to a position in advance of the pit, untilafter the haulage car is in the pit. It is especially disadvantageous inthose systems wherein the loaded cars are run by gravity down aninclined portion of the track to the base of the car dumper approach,for the reason that it is often the case that the cars cannot be stoppedon the incline in their descent until after they pass a pit. Hence, itis necessary, or at least advisable to start a car down the incline onlyafter the haulage car is in the pit. This results in loss of time in theshifting of the cars.

The object of the present invention is to provide a haulage system whichwill enable the cars to be handled in a more economical manner, and insuch a way as to avoid the delays incident to the shifting of the cars,with the haulage plants generally in use at the present time.

In the car haulage plant or system which I have devised, the haulagetrack is located Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 19, 1915, Serial No. 792,359.

adjacent and preferably beneath themain track, and the haulage car whichis adapted to run along the haulage track is provided with a movable carshifter device preferably in the form of a pivoted arm, which can bemoved to a. position such that when the haulage car is moved forwardly,said device will engage an appropriate part of the car to be moved, andto another position such that the haulage car as a whole may pass a caron the main track.

My invention may be further briefly summarized as consisting in certainnovel de tails of construction and combinations and arrangements ofparts which will be described in the specification and set forth in theaccompanying claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein I have shown one embodiment of myinvention adapted to be employed in connection with the car dumper,Figure l is a side view on a reduced scale showing ay portion of themain track, a portion of the pusher car track, and showing the pushercar in the act of pushing a car up the inclined section of the track;Fig. 2 is a slightly enlarged view showing the upper part of theapproach, and a portion of the car dumper onto which the pusher car isadapted to move a loaded car; Fig. 3 is a transverse section through themain and car haulage tracks, showing the haulage car and a p0rtion ofthe main car in elevation; Fig. 4 is a top plan view showing a portionof the main track and a portion of the friction devices used inconnection with the pusher arm to elevate and lower the same and to holdthe same in elevated position.

eferring now to the drawings, 10 represents the main track for a maincar ll, said track constituting in this case the inclined approach to acar dumper, a portion of which is shown at l2. At the base of theinclined portion is a horizontal section 13 to which the car ll may moveby gravity, or otherwise, so that it can be engaged and moved up theinclined approach by the pusher car.

The pusher car which is designated as a whole by the reference character14, is adapted to travel along a narrow gage pusher track l5, which islocated below the upwardly inclined and horizontal portions of the maintrack, and between the rails of the latter. It is essential to myinvention that the haulage track be at least at one point a sufficientdistance below the main track that the haulage car may run beneath andass to the rear of the main car to be moved, although perhaps it is notessential that it be the same uniform distance below the main track, inadvance of that point. Preferably, however, the haulage track is at allpoints the same distance below the main track.

The haulage car which may be of any suitable construction, includes aframe 17, and supporting axles 17ZL to which are attached track wheels17h. Supported by the side members of the frame 17 between the front andrear wheels and nearer the front wheels than the rear wheels is atransverse shaft on which is pivoted a pusher arm or ram 18 whichprojects forwardly a considerable distance beyond the pusher car asshown in the drawings, and at its rear end is provided with acounterweight so that the arm as a whole will be substantially balancedon the supporting shaft. This arm has a range of movement such that whenit is swung upwardly, it will be in position to engage a suitable partof the car, to move the latter up the inclined track, and when swungdownwardly, the haulage car as a whole, may in moving rearwardly, passbeneath and tothe rear of a car which is standing on the main track inposition to be moved up the inclined section 10.

In the present case, two expedients are utilized for raising andlowering the arm and for holding the same'. in its operative position.One of these expedients consists in attaching the haulage cable 19 tothe lower part of the arm below the pivotal axis of the latter, so thatwhen tension is placed in the cable, to move the haulage car forwardly,the cable itself will tend to rock or swing the arm to its upperposition. This cable extends from the haulage car up to and about asheave 20 which is located adjacent the cradle of the car dumper 12, andthence extends rearwardly to and about an idler sheave 21 and thencepasses to a winding drum 22.

While the cable itself can, in many instances, be relied on to maintainthe arm in its upper operative position, it may not answer in allinstances, as for example, if for any reason, the main car should begiven a forward impulse, or if the haulage should be momentarilyretarded, so as to cause the car and the pusher arm to separate somewhatso that the previous tension on the cable would be relaxed.

To prevent the arm swinging down on occasions such as that just stated,I provide additional means for swinging the arm, and for maintaining itin its upper position as long as the haulage car 1s not movingrearwardly, but which will positively swing the arm downwardly at thestart of the rearward movement. This consists in this case of frictiondevices in the form of channels 25, which, as will be observed, aresupported substantially in the plane of the rails of the main track, andwhich normally stand back to back with a suitable space between them,and are adapted to receive between them the shank of the pusher' arm.These channels are supported for slight horizontal movement inward andoutward, and are pressed inwardly toward each other by springs 26, thetension of the springs being such that the channels offer someresistance to the movement of the pusher arm, as the latter moves alongbetween them. It will be understood that these channels extend centrallybetween the rails of the main track, throughout the length of thehaulage track. The pusher arm at all times extends upwardly into theslot between these channels, which will tend either to elevate thepusher arm or to lower the same, depending upon the direction in whichthe haulage car is moving. As these channels engage the pusher arm at apoint above the pivotal axis of the arm, when the haulage car is movingforwardly, they will rock the arm is a clockwise direction, as the sameis viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, and hence will elevate the arm, but when thecar is moved rearwardly, they rock the arm in a counterclockwisedirection so as to lower the same. They not only positively swing thearm upwardly or downwardly, as the case may be be, but they keep the armin its upper position, even though the tension of the cable isslackened, as in the instance above stated, as long as the haulage cardoes not actually move rearwardly.

Any suitable means may be provided for limiting the movement of thepusher arm, such as cross members extending between the side members ofthe frame above and below the arm. I may utilize for this purposeplates, such as plates 27 supported at the forward end of the frame, andprovided with slots engaged by the projecting ends of a suitable member28 carried by the arm 18. In the drawing, the plates 27 are shown asattached to vertical guide members 29 which are provided at the forwardend of the frame to guide the arm 18 in its vertical swinging movements.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, a haulagetrack adjacent the main track, a haulage car on said haulage track, saidhaulage car having a movable device adapted to be shifted to a positionsuch that it will engage a car on the main track, and to be shifted toanother position such that the haulage car as a whole may pass a car onthe main track, and means f age car is moved in the "i such that thehaulage car i main track and whereby the movement of said haulage carcauses said device to be shifted.

ln a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, a haulagetrack adjacent the main track, a haulage car on said haulage track, saidhaulage car having a movable device adapted to be shifted to a positionsuch that it will engage a car on the main track, and to anotherposition such that the haulage car as a whole may pass a car on the maintrack, means for shifting said haulage car, and means for automaticallyshifting said device when the haulage car is moved.

3. In a. car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, ahaulage track adja cent the main track, a haulage car on said haulagetrack, a movable device carried by said haulage car and adapted to bemoved to a position such that it will engage a car on the main trackwhen the haulage car is moved in one direction, and to a position suchthat the haulage car as a whole may pass a car on the main track whenthe haulopposite direction, and means controlled by the movement of thecar for shifting said device.

a. ln a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, a haulagetrack adjacent the main track, a haulage car on said haulage track, amovable device carried by said haulage car and adapted to be moved to aposition such that it will engage a car on the main track and to anotherposition as a whole may pass car on the main track, and a haulage cableconnected to said haulage car for shifting the same.

ln a haulage plant, a main track for a car to bemoved, a haulage trackadjacent the main track, a. haulage car on said haulage.

track, a movable device carried by said haul age car and adapted to bemoved to a posi` tion such that it will engage a car on .the to anotherposition such that the haulage car as a whole may pass a car on the maintrack, and means for controlling said device from a remote point,comprising a cable attached to said device.

6. In a haulage plant, a main track for a. car to be moved, a haulagetrack adjacent the main track, a haulage car on said haulage track, amovable shifter device carried by said haulage car, and adapted to bemoved to a position such that it will engage a car on the main track,and to another position such that the haulage car as a whole may pass acar on the main track, and means for controlling said device from apoint distant from the haulage car.

7. ln a haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, a haulagetrack adjacent the main track, a haulage car on said haulage track, amovable shifter device carried by said haulage car and adapted to bemoved cgis u:

to a position such that it will engage a car on the main track and toanother position such that the haulage car as a whole may pass a car onthe main trac and means for controlling the movement' of said haulagecar and of said device from a point distant from the haulage car.

In a haulage plant, a main tack for a car to be moved, a haulage trackadjacent the main track, a haulage car on said haulage track, a movableshifter member carried by said haulage car and adapted to be moved to aposition such that it will engage a car on the main track, and toanother position such that the haulage car as a whole may pass a car onthe main track, means for shifting said haulage car, and meanscomprising a friction device for moving' said member.

9. In a haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, a haulagetrack adjacent the main track, a haulage car on said haulage track, amovable shifter member carried by said haulage car, and means wherebywhen said haulage car is moved in one direction said member isautomatically moved to a position such that it will engage a car on themain track, and when the haulage car is moved in the opposite directionsaid member is automatically moved to a position such that the haulagecar as a whole may pass a car on the main track.

l0. In a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, ahaulage track eX- tending beneath the same, a haulage car on said track,said haulage car having a movable part adapted to be moved upward so asto engage a car on the main track and to move downward so that thehaulage car as a whole may pass beneath a car on the main track.

ll. In a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, ahaulage track beneath the same, a haulage car on said haulage track, a.movable device carried by said haulage car adapted to be moved upward soas to engage a car on the main track and to move downward so that thehaulage car as a whole may pass beneath a car on the main track, andmeans for elevating the said device to operative position.

l2. In a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, ahaulage track beneath the same, a haulage car on said haulage track, amovable pusher device carried by said haulage car adapted to be movedupward so as to engage a car on the main track and to move downward sothat the haulage car as a whole may pass beneath a car on the maintrack, and means governed by the movement of the car for shifting saiddevice.

13. In a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, ahaulage track beneath the same, a haulage car on said haulage track, amovable pusher arm carried by said haulage car adapted to be movedupward so as to engage a car on the main track and to move downward sothat the haulage car as a 'whole may pass beneath a car on the maintrack, and means arranged along the track for raising or lowering thearm.

14. In a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, ahaulage track eX- tending beneath the same, a haulage car on saidhaulage track, a movable pusher arm carried by said haulage car, andmeans comprising a friction device for moving said arm.

15. In a car haulage plant, for a car to be moved, a track for a haulagecar extending beneath the same, a haulage car on said haulage track, apusher arm pivotally supported by the haulage car, and means controlledby the movement of the haulage car along its track for raising orlowering the pusher arm depending upon the direction in which thehaulage car is moved.

a main track Copies of this patent may be obtained for pusher armadapted five cents each, by addressing the 16. In a car haulage plant, amain track for a car to be moved, a track for a haulage car beneath thesame, a haulage car on said haulage track, a pusher arm pivotallysupported by the haulage car, and means eX- tending along the main trackadapted to frictionally engage the pusher arm for shifting said arm.

17. In a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, ahaulage track beneath the main track, a haulage car on said haulagetrack provided with a movable to be moved upwardly to engage a car onthe main track and to move downward so that the haulage car as a wholemay pass beneath the car on the main track, a cable for shifting saidhaulage car, said cable being attached to said arm.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiX my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses. PRESLY J. FICKINGER. Witnesses:

E. B. GriLcHRisT, L. I. PORTER.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

